Around 18 months ago my brother Anthony and I were
talking boys adventures and how we two siblings, who incidently aren't getting any younger, had never been on one together. 

Fast forward a few more hours, and if my rather sketchy memory serves me correctly possibly a few glasses of red later, we decided that the only way to remedy this, was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.  In order to truly cement this endeavour as a proper boys adventure, it was decided that James, my brother's eldest son (also my Godson) should be amongst the expedition party.

Anthony has a history of climbing, having climbed Mount
Cho Oyu and Mount Everest, however James and I do not. That said, we were not going to allow being entirely clueless to stand in our way, nor were we going to take this trip lightly, so the training regime (sort of) began in earnest and as I write this find ourselves in a true “all the gear and no idea” fashion, ready for the off on 11th September.

As I have already said, the purpose of the trip was mainly a boys adventure, however as time marched on and the departure date loomed ever closer, it occurred to me that it could and perhaps should be something more. 

We have an opportunity not only to have some fun and enjoy some serious boy bonding time together, but to do something for others and to this end we decided that we'd raise some money for the Children’s Ward at Nottingham’s Queens Medical Centre (QMC).

I have in the past, along with a number of colleagues, raised money and donated gifts at Christmas to support the incredible work done on these wards.  Having visited the QMC on numerous occasions, I've seen how devoted the staff are to their sometimes seriously ill young patients and should you at any point feel the need to have your faith restored in humanity, I suggest that you go along and pop your head around the door.

So that’s it; we set off on 11th September and arrive home around two weeks later, hopefully having successfully reached the top with plenty of great memories, some tall stories and thanks to you guys, plenty of cash in the bank for the Children’s Ward.

And just in case I forgot to mention it, we are funding this trip ourselves and so every single penny that you give, goes to the Children’s Ward. (Children's Big Appeal)

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.